Singer Kellylee Evans Readies U.S. Debut With ‘And So We Dance’ (Video Premiere)

There’s something about raw industrial spaces that inspires intensive, artistic movement, from “Flashdance” to Canadian singer Kellylee Evans’ new video for “And So We Dance,” her English-language version of “Alors on danse” by the Belgian electronic artist Stromae. Evans premieres the video today on Speakeasy.

The Juno Award-winning jazz and soul vocalist she shows her own moves between shots of the French dance duo Soria et Mehdi executing powerful choreography that is at once physically demanding and visually dazzling. Though their steps seem to suggest the turbulence of a fraught relationship, by the end they’re dancing together with Evans in a downpour. Evans shot the video in Paris, in a vacant building the director, Thierry Teston, found.

“They cleaned out most of the dead pigeons and muck but they couldn’t get all of it,” Evans tells Speakeasy by e-mail. “They created rain indoors and the dancers, Medhi and Soria, and I kept our energy up for take after take. I can still remember Medhi slipping and skidding through the puddles to create effects for the camera. They were both fearless.”

Evans credits Stromae’s original version of “Alors on danse” with helping her to learn French. “When I started playing early demos of our remake for people in North America they suggested I write English lyrics,” Evans says. “The words came to me in the recording studio.”

The song comes from “I Remember When,” Evans’ fourth album as a bandleader and her U.S. debut. It’s due July 22 on Motéma Music, and available here for pre-order. What do you think of the video for “And So We Dance?” Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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